Method and apparatus for packaging



March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL 3,374,600

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING m 0 S 1 m 7 0A 6 TR e NA h M vc m mm. 9 MN m mm s D 4 8 m FE m HM! m a ununhl l in lllll ll 1 IL'UNIIIIII u u H u u 1 n n w n n I WHHI I IT Filed Dec. 15, 1964 ATTORNEY March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL 3,374,600

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING Filed Dec. 15, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2A

INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MARASSO ROBERT ERNST RADEMACHER March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 15, 1964 INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MORASSO ROBERT ERNST RADEMACHER March 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL 3,374,500-

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING 8 SheetsSheet 4 Filed Dec. 15, 1964 .ELTCDIDZGLIEI INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MARASSO ROBER ERNST RADEMACHER March 26,1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL 3,374,500

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING Filed Dec. 15, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 N 5.15%.! NN NM n b m m wm March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Dec. 15, 1964 344 FIG. 6

FIG. 7

INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MARASSO ROBERT ERNST RADEMACHER March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL 3,374,600

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed D60. 15, 1964 INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MARASSO ROBERT ERNST RADEMACHER March 26, 1968 R. E. RADEMACHER ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Dec. 15, 1964 INVENTORS FRED DOMINIC MARASSO ROBERT ERNST RADEMACHER United States Patent Ofifice 3,374,599 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 3,374,690 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING Robert Ernst Rademaclier and Fred Dominic Marasso, Richmond, Va., assignors to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 418,391 6 Claims. (CI. 53-35) This invention relates to transfer and packaging of fragile articles, and more particularly baked or partially baked articles such as rolls, buns and the like.

Since partially baked articles such as rolls are extremely fragile and may easily be dented or damaged even in careful handling, it is an object of this invention to provide means for high speed depanning of buns in a gentle manner and for depositing them gently into a formed box or carton without start and stop of the pick-up head.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means, such as a smoothly swinging vacuum pick-up head, which has no dwell time or intermittent motion and which can pick up a plurality of articles from separated positions and transfer them in a cluster to a remote station where they are grouped more closely together.

It is another object of this invention to provide a pickup head which picks up buns from pans in open formation and deposits said buns into cartons in closed formation.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for positive indexing of trays or pans to compensate for warped pans.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a carton sensing device which arrests the carton feed when no pans are in the pick-up Zone.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a pan sensing device which stops the pan feed when no cartons are present in the bun delivery zone.

A further object of the invention is to provide a positive pneumatic air control.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIGS. 1 and 1A when joined at line AA illustrate a front elevation of the bun depanning and packaging machine;

FIG. 1B is a detailed plan view of the suction control valve, taken on line 1B1B of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 2 and 2A when joined at line BB illustrate a plan view of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the machine illustrating the various conveyor drives;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the pneumatic control valve assembly;

FIG. 5 is a partial side elevation of the machine, partly in section, illustratin the vacuum pick-up head during bun depanning action;

FIG. 6 is a plan view with parts broken away, of the vacuum pick-up head with its individual suction cups in open formation;

FIG. 7 is also a plan View of the vacuum pick-up head, with parts broken away, to illustrate the individual suction cups in closed formation;

FIG. 8 is a partial isometric plan view showing the jet air blast arrangement over the passing trays;

FIG. 9 is an isometric side elevation of the carton delivery mechanisms and their actuating means;

FIG. 10 is a sectional side elevation illustrating the carton receiving cradle and its actuating mechanism; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic air control system.

With reference to the drawing, the apparatus includes a tray infeed conveyor C, a tray return conveyor R, an oscillating vacuum pick-up head H, a carton or box infeed conveyor B and a package delivery conveyor P.

The tray infeed conveyor C consists of a pair of spaced endless chains 20 to each of which are secured a plurality of tray supporting cleats 22. Chains 20 are driven by a pair of suitable sprockets 24 and are led over and supported by a pair of idler sprockets 26 rotatably mounted on a transverse shaft 28 each end of which is adjustably supported in an elongated slot 30 of a conveyor support bar 32. One end of each of the two spaced and parallel arranged conveyor support bars 32 is pivotly mounted on a horizontal stud 34 held by and projecting from each of the respective two side frames 36 of the machine. To the other end of each of the support bars 32 is pivotally secured a stud like member 38, each of which in turn engages the threaded upper portion of a vertical rod or spindle 40. Each rod 40 at its bottom end is rotatably supported by a bearing 42 and also carries a sprocket 44. The two sprockets 44 of the two vertical rods 40 are connected by a transverse chain 46 and one of the rods at its upper end is provided with an extension 48 to which is secured a hand wheel 50. This arrangement is designed to permit raising and lowering of the conveyor relative to the pick-up head to compensate for variation in tray and bun heights. The driving sprockets 24 of the endless conveyor chains 20 are secured to a transverse drive shaft 52 which at each end is rotatably supported in suitable bearings secured to the two spaced conveyor support bars 32 arranged in parallel. By turning the hand wheel 58 the conveyor support bars 32 and consequently the entire tray infeed conveyor C may be raised or lowered to bring bun carrying trays of different heights within reach and contact of the oscillating vacuum pick-up head H for transfer of the buns from the trays to cartons.

To one end of the tray infeed conveyor drive shaft 52 is secured a sprocket 54 which by a chain 56 connects with a drive sprocket 58 mounted on a horizontal output shaft 69 of a gear reduction unit 62. The input shaft 64 of said gear reduction unit carries a pulley 66 which through a belt 68 is driven from a pulley 74 mounted on the motor shaft 72 of a motor 74 secured to transverse supporting bars which form part of the main frame of the machine. The gear reduction unit 62 may be regulated by a hand wheel 76 secured to the upper end of a vertical rod 78 while the lower threaded end of said rod engages with a link bracket 80 which forms part of said gear reduction unit.

The longitudinal center portion of the tray infeed conveyor C is provided with an upwardly projecting split arched channel 82 employed for the purpose of projecting into the space between the center rows of the downwardly projecting cup shaped indentation of the trays T to assure their alignment and serve as a positive guide as said trays filled with baked or partially baked rolls are advanced by said infeed conveyor C towards the pick-up station. To time and momentarily arrest said filled trays T at the pick-up station and to permit the oscillating vacuum pick-up head H to extract the buns or rolls from the trays for delivery to awaiting cartons, the conveyor C is equipped with a pair of spaced index fingers 84 which at their upper ends project from the center opening of the tray guide channel 82 mentioned above. Each index finger 84 is pivotally supported by a horizontal pin 86 held by a bracket 88 which is secured to downwardly projecting flanges of the tray guide channel 82. The lower portion of each of the bell crank shaped index fingers 84 engages with a piston rod or plunger 90 projecting from an air cylinder 92 and is held in engagement with said plunger by a tension spring 94. The free upper ends of the index fingers 84 are so shaped to permit a positive engagement of the latter with the downward projecting head of the rear or trailing end of the tray T as illustrated in FIG. 5. To keep the filled towards the pick-up stationand thus prevent the front and rear edges of said pans from overriding onto each otherwhile the leading tray is momentarily arrested during pick-up operation, the tray infeed conveyor C is provided with a pan hold down mechanism which consists of a roller or disc 96 pivotally mounted to the free end of an arm 98 secured to a sleeve 100 rotatably supported at both ends by bearings formed in the upper portion of a pair of brackets 104 mounted to the outer side of each of the conveyor support bars 32. To keep roller 96 in constant contact with the. passing trays the sleeve 100 is provided with another arm 106, to the free end of which is hooked one end of a suitable tension spring 108, while the other end of the latter is. anchored to a pin projecting from the inner side of one of the conveyor support bars 32. Also toprevent a tray from being lifted from the conveyor C at the pick-up station which may be caused by a roll or bun sticking to the tray during the bun lifting operation of the vacuum pick-up head H, the conveyor C at this particular point is provided with a tray or pan guard which consists of a roller 110 pivotally carried at the free end of an arm 112 mounted on the transverse shaft 102 mentioned above. To shaft 192 is also secured another arm 114 to the free end of which is hooked a tension spring 116 suitable anchored to one of the conveyor support bars 32. To the'roller carrying arm 112 is also secured one end of a suitably shaped guard bar 118 which projects forward and above the longitudinal center portion of the trays when passing the pick-up station. After the rolls or buns are extracted from the trays by the oscillating vacuum pick-up head H the empty trays, one by one, slide onto a tray transfer device mounted adjacent the end of the tray infeed conveyor C. The tray transfer device consists of a pair of spaced and parallel arranged tray receiving rods 120 the free ends of which terminate adjacent the end of the tray infeed conveyor C. One end of each rod is secured to a cross bar 122 which is secured at each end thereof to the free end of an arm 124 which is pivotally suspended from a stud 126 projecting from, and held by, the respective side frame 36. With this arrangement, the tray receiving rods 120 remain substantially in an horizontal position when waiting to receive an empty tray. However when a tray is received on rods 120, the weight thereof causes each assembly of rod 120 and arm 124 to pivot in a clockwise direction about each stud 126, thus moving the free ends of rods 120 downwardly and permitting the empty tray to slide downward onto the tray return conveyor R for delivery to an attendant who disposes of said empty trays. The tray return conveyor R consists of a pair of spaced parallel endless chains 128, each of which may carry a plurality of suitable tray supporting cleats 130 which are similar to cleats 22 carried by the chains of the infeed conveyor C. Each chain 128 is driven by a sprocket 132 and led over an idler sprocket 134, both of which are mounted on a transverse shaft 136 which at each end is adjustably supported in an elongated slot 138 of a conveyor support bar 140, both of which are stationary and secured to the main frame of the machine. The driving sprockets 132 for the conveyor chains 128 are mounted on a transverse shaft 142 rotatably supported at each end in bearings attached to the support bars 140. To one end of shaft 142 is secured another sprocket 144 which by a chain 146 is driven by I a sprocket 148 mounted on the gear reduction unit output shaft 60.

a An oscillating vacuum pick-up head H is employed to lift the buns or rolls out of the tray and transfer them into a formed box, withoutstart and stop of said pick-up. head. Since a standard cup cake tray or pan accommod'ates twenty-four rolls or buns in six lateral rows of four each and since it is standard practice to pack twelve rolls in a carton, the pick-up head is designed to pick-up twelve rolls at one time and deposit them in a standard formed carton.

Since in a standard cup cake tray of pan the buns or rolls baked therein are a short distance apart from each other to prevent adherence to each other during baking and since, on the other hand, the rolls, when inserted and deposited into the formed carton, must be brought closely together the pick-up head H not only transfers the rolls from the tray into the carton but also brings them close together during transfer operation to eliminate any space between them to assure a neat and snug arrangement when placed in said carton. v

The pick-up head H consists of a transverse hollowsuction head 150 which at one end is pivotally supported by and connected with a hollow arm 152 which is secured to one end of a transverse shaft 154 rotatably supported by a pair of bearings secured to the side frames of the machine. On the other end of shaft 154 is mounted another arm 156 the free upper end of which pivotally supports the other end of the aforementioned transverse suction head 150. The pick-up head H is also provided with a plurality of downwardly projecting suction cups 158 arranged in three'lateral or transverse rows of four cups each. Each cup 158 at its top end is secured to and suspended from a block 160, each of which is provided with a vertical duct 162, each of which by means of a flexible tube 164 is connected with the transverse hollow suction head 150. The suction is supplied by means of a suction turbine 166 driven through a belt 168 and pulleys 170 and 172 by a motor 174 mounted to the base of the main frame of the machine. The suction turbine 166 by means of a suitable tube 176 is connected to a suction box 178 secured to one of the side frames of the machine. The suction box 178 on its top portion is provided with a horizontal slide valve 180 (FIGS. 1 and 1B) which is actuated by a piston of an air cylinder 182 connected to said valve 180 by a piston rod .184 and a pin 186. The upper portion of the slide valve 180 by a pair of suitable flexible tubings 188 is connected to a stationary suction chamber 190 which with its upper portion is attached to the shaft 154 and the hub of the hollow arm 152 in a spring loaded fashion (not shown) to permit said hollow arm to oscillate and still maintain an air tight seal between the stationary suction chamber 190 and the oscillating arm 152. The oscillation of the latter is accomplished by a crank pin 192 carried by and projecting from a sprocket 194 mounted on a transverse shaft 196 rotatably supported at each end by bearings in'the side frames of the machine. Sprocket 194 by means of a chain 198 is driven by a sprocket 200 mounted on the output shaft 60 of the gear reduction unit 62. The crank pin 192 on sprocket 194 by means of a connecting rod 202is connected to the free end of an arm 204 which projects from and which is an integral part of the hollow arm 152. When slide valve 180 is in the position as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, suction supplied to box 178 by the suction turbine 166 reaches all the suction cups 158 through said slide valve 180, the tubes 188, the suction chamber 190, the hollow arm 152, the suction head 150 and the fiexibie tubes 164 each of which is connected to an individual suction cup 158 as mentioned heretofore.

When the slide valve 180 is moved to the rightby means of the air cylinder 182 said valve 180 is aligned with an exhaust port 206 and the pick-up head H is freed from all suction. Port 206 is conveniently provided in a horizontal flange 208 projecting from the right side end of the suction box 178. j

Each suction cup 158 is held by and suspended from a block 160, and the blocks 160 are arranged in three lat eral rows of four cups each, which also form four longitudinal rows. Of course, the invention is not limited to this precise arrangement of cups, and it should be understood that any number and arrangement may be used, depending on the number and arrangement of the articles being worked upon. In addition, the instant invention is L not limited to the packing of buns, and any article may be operated on by the apparatus disclosed, for example, rolls, eggs, pills, bricks, etc. The blocks 160 for the front or leading lateral row are slidingly supported by a transverse rod 210 which at each end is pivotally supported by a lug 212 each of which is integral with and projects from a supporting member 214, one of each of which is adjustably mounted on each end of the suction head 15%. The middle lateral row of the suction cup supporting blocks 160 is slidingly supported by a transverse piston rod 216 which at each end is provided with a piston (not shown) each of which engages with an air cylinder 218. The piston rod 216 at its center is secured to a longitudinal supporting and stabilizing member 220 which with its front portion slidingly rests between two collars on the transverse rod 210, while the rear portion of said member slidingly rests between two collars on a transverse rod 222 which also slidingly supports the rear or trailing lateral row of the suction cup supporting blocks 16%. The

transverse rod 222 is pivotaliy supported at each end by the lower end of a link 224 while the upper ends of the two links are secured to the ends of a transverse shaft 226 which at each end is rotatably supported by a bearing lug 228 each of which is integral with and projects from its respective supporting member 214. To align the suction cup supporting blocks 160 also into longitudinal rows of three blocks each as illustrated in the drawing, each block 169 carried by the transverse piston rod 216 and forming the middle lateral row carries a longitudinal rod 230. Each of the four rods 230 at its center portion is secured to each block 16% carried by the transverse piston rod 215 and each longitudinal rod 23% extends from the front and from the rear of its respective block and slidingly engages with the block in front and in the rear of the front and rear lateral rows respectively. The longitudinal rod 230 on the extreme left side and also the rod on the extreme right side are each in engagement with the extending legs of a U-shaped actuating member 232 each of which is secured to one end of the air cylinder 218 situated on the left and right side respectively. Each actuating member 232 is provided with two lugs 234 and 236 which are an integral part thereof and which project horizontally from opposite sides of each member 232. Each lug 234 by means of a pair of links 238 is connected to a pivot 240 carried by a lug 242, one of each of which is adjustably secured to each end of the transverse rod 21ft. The other lug 236 of each member 232 by means of a pair of links 244 is connected to a pivot 246 carried by a lug 248 one of each of which is adjustably secured to each end of the transverse rod 222. From the outer side of each of the two middle blocks 168 on the transverse piston rod 216 projects an adjustable stud 250 pointing to its adjacent outer block 150 on the transverse piston rod 216. Surrounding the transverse piston rod 216 and confined between each side of the stabilizing member 226 and the inner sides of the two blocks 16% adjacent to the right and left side of said member are a pair of compression springs 252 employed for the purpose of keeping the correct lateral distance between the two longitudinal rows of the suction cup carrying blocks 16h assisted by two stop collars 254 one of each of which is adjustably mounted on the transverse piston rod 216 adjacent the outer side of the two middle row blocks 160 on rod 216. The distance between the two longitudinal inner rows and the adjacent end or outer row of blocks 165) on each side is controlled by the position of the'air cylinder 218 to each of which is secured the member 232 each of which is connected with the longitudinal rod 236 and each of which engages with the left and right side longitudinal outer rows respectively.

The rolls or buns in the pans or trays are a certain distance apart and must be brought together for delivery and insertion into a formed box or carton. Therefore, the bun pick-up mechanism described above is designed to pick up the buns in open formation as forwarded in the trays and then effect a closing of the spaces between said buns for delivery of the same in closed formation to the awaiting carton. To illustrate the function properly the pick-up mechanism disclosed in FIG. 6 shows the latter in open formation or pick-up position, while FIG. 7 shows them in closed formation or delivery position. The pick-up of the buns from the pans or trays and their delivery and insertion into a formed carton is accomplished as follows. The continuously oscillating vacuum pick-up head is so regulated that when a bun carrying tray reaches the pickup station end the movement of the tray is temporarily arrested by one of the index fingers 84 and the suction cups 158 carried by said pick-up head engage the top surfaces of the buns since said head at that moment has reached its lowermost position of its clockwise swing.

With suction supplied to said cups 158 the buns so contacted adhere to said cups. Anti-clockwise up-swing of the oscillating suction head H causes the buns to be lifted from the tray. Shortly after the thus lifted buns have cleared the tray and before the pick-up head has reached the end of its anti-clockwise swing, air pressure is applied to the two cylinders 218 carried by the pick-up head. This causes said cylinders, due to the fact that the pistons within the same are stationary, to slide over the transverse piston rod 216 towards each other, i.e., towards the center of the pick-up head. Since each member 232 carried by each cylinder 213 engages with the end or outer longitudinal rod 239 and each rod in turn engages with its respective right and left side longitudinal outer row of the suction cup carrying blocks 160, these two rows of blocks are also moved towards the center. During this movement the center block on each of the outer longitudinal rods contacts and engages with the head of the stud 250 which projects from the adjacent center block of each of the two middle longitudinal rows of cup supporting blocks and causes these two longitudinal middle rows to move towards each other until the center block on each outer longitudinal rod 230 contacts a collar 256 adjustably mounted on the transverse piston rod 216 and thus effecting the arrest of the cylinders 218 and all transverse movements. The lateral distances between the longitudinal rows of the suction cup carrying blocks 160 and consequently of the buns carried by the suction cups 158 are reduced to the extent that the longitudinal rows of buns touch each other. The transverse movement of the cylinders, of course, also affects the closing-in of the lateral rows of the cup carrying blocks through the links 238 and 244 of each member 232 on each cylinder with the transverse rods 218 and 222 respectively. Since the transverse rod 216 is held by rigid lugs 212 of the members 214; and the transverse rod 222 is suspended by a pair of links 224; and the cylinders 218 are carried by the transverse piston rod 216, supported by the lateral center row of block rec mounted on the longitudinal slidable rod 230, the transverse or towards the center movement of the cylinders 218 has no effect as far as any longitudinal movement of the front row of blocks on the transverse rod 210 is concerned. However, since each member 232 on the cylinders 213 through their links 238 is pivotally anchored to the transverse rod 120, the transverse towards the center movement will cause the cylinders 218 and consequently the transverse piston rod 216 with the cup carrying blocks thereon to move longitudinally forward towards the lateral or transverse front row of the blocks on the transverse rod 218. At the same time since the members 232 on cylinders 218, by means of links 244, are pivotally connected to lugs 248 secured to the link suspended transverse rod 222 carrying the rear or trailing lateral row of the cup carrying blocks, the latter are also moved longitudinally forward and follow the transverse center row of blocks on the transverse piston rod 216 so that when the movement of the cylinders 218 is arrested as mentioned heretofore, the longitudinal distances between the lateral rows of the suction cup carrying blocks and consequently the buns carried by the suction cups 158 are also reduced to the extent that now the lateral rows of buns touch each other and thus effect the close formation desired. When the suction pick-up head reaches the end of its anti-clockwise swing the suction supply, controlled by the sliding valve 180, is cut off and the buns are gently deposited in a formed carton waiting at the bun delivery station. I

The formed cartons K are forwarded from a suitable carton forming machine (not shown) by means of a conventional conveyor 260 which in turn carries said cartons ontothe carton infeed conveyor B which is mounted above and at right angles to the tray infeed conveyor C. The carton infeed conveyor B consists of a pair of spaced endless belts" 262, Which are supported by an idler pulley 264 and a driving pulley 266. Idler pulley 264 is mounted on a shaft 268 rotatably supported at each end by suitable bearings secured to the frame of the machine. Driving pulley 266 is mounted on a shaft 270 to which is secured a level gear 272 meshing with a level gear 274 mounted on a shaft 276 to which is also keyed a sprocket 278; Sprocket 278, through a chain 280, is continuously driven by a sprocket 282 mounted on the gear reduction unit output shaft 60. The formed carton K forwarded onto the carton infeed conveyor B is indexed by a suitably shaped oscillating index finger 284 which at one end is pivotally supported by a stud 286 held by a suitable bracket 288 secured to the frame of the machine. The index finger 284 is activated by the piston of an air cylinder 290 which is so synchronized with the action and movements of the pick-up head H as to release each carton in proper time to reach its position in the cradle to receive the buns forwarded by said pick-up head H. The index finger 284 is so shaped that normally its free end rests on the bottom of the carton and at the same time engages with the inner side of the trailing wall of the lifting of the latter and thus disengaging from the carton and allows said carton to move with the continuously running conveyor belts 262 until said carton is arrested by a carton stop and guide bar 292 mounted across the conveyor. Since, as mentioned above, the index finger 284 is lifted only momentarily it drops into the next carton which follows the one just released and the free end of said finger 284 slides over the bottom of this carton, advanced by the conveyor belts, until it contacts and engages the inner side of the trailing wall of this carton and thus causes its arrest. The box or carton, which was released by the index finger 284 and then again arrested by the stop and guide bar 292 is next engaged on its side by a pair of spaced oscillating plates 294. The plates push said carton from the conveyor belts 262 down a sloping chute 296 from which the carton slides onto a cradle consisting of a pair of adjustable and spaced U- shaped bars 298 mounted on blocks 300. The blocks are adjustably secured to a transverse cradle shaft 302, rotatably supported at each end by an upright bearing plate 304, each of which at its bottom portion is pivotally supported by a stud 306; each of which is held by and secured to the conveyor support bar 32 on its respective side. In order to locate and guide the cartons into the U-shaped cradle bars 298, a pair of end guide plates 308 also adjustably mounted on shaft 302 are provided.

In order to facilitate depositing of the buns into the cartonby the pick-up head and also to facilitate the delivery of the packedjbun's onto the package delivery conveyor P the cradle shaft is slightly oscillated or cocked during these stages of operation. For this reason a cam 310 mounted on the continuously rotating transverse shaft 196 engages with a cam roller 312 pivotally mounted on a cam lever plate 314 which in turn is pivotally held and supported by a stud 316 projecting from and carried by a supporting arm 318 which at one end is loosely suspended from the transverse shaft 196 While at the other end, by means of a stud 320, is loosely attached to the free ends of anothersupporting arm 322 which is loosely suspended from the cradle shaft 302. The stud 320 also pivotally supports a double ended rocker arm 324, one end of which by means of a pair of links 326 is connected to the free end of the cam lever plate 314, while the other end by means of a connecting rod 328isconnected to the cradle activating arm 330 secured to the cradle shaft 302. A suitably anchored tension spring 332 attached to the cam lever plate 314 assures a permanent contact of cam roller 312 with the cam 310, which through the connections described above imparts the desired tilting motion to the carton carrying craddle bars 292 to assure trouble free insertion of the buns by the pick-up head H and also smooth delivery of the completed package onto package delivery conveyor P. In

order to permit adjustment of the cradle position dictated by the height of the buns to be packed, each bearing plate 304, by means of an adjustable connecting rod 334, is pivotaily connected to an eccentric disc 336; each of which is keyed and secured to a transverse shaft 338 rotatably suported at each end by spaced conveyor sup port bars 32. To one end of the transverse shaft 338 is secured a hand bar 340 which may be used to rotate the shaft 338 and the eccentric disc 336 thereon and thus through the connection described above effect the desired positioning of the carton carrying craddle.

Since it is desirable that the buns deposited by the pick-up head H fit snugly in the carton, it has been found advantageous to bend the rear Wall of the carton backward to give added room when the pick-up head places the buns in the carton and thus prevent injury to or hanging up of the buns being inserted. For this reason the oscillating pick-up head supporting shaft 154 carries an adjustably spring mounted shaped depressing finger 342 which during bun-insertion action engages with the top edge of the central portion of the rear wall of the carton and gently bends said rear walls backwards.- The pick-up head H is also provided with a stabilizing rod 344 which at one end is pivotally secured to a stud 346 held by and projecting from one of the side frames of the machine. The other end of the stabilizing rod 344 by means of a stud 348 is pivotally connected to the free end of an arm 350 which is adjustably secured to one end of the transverse hollow suction head 150. This arrangement is designed to control the position of suction cups 158 carried by said suction head at the end of each stroke, i.e., at the bun pick-up as well as bun delivery position.

To assist the suction cups158 when lifting the buns from the trays and to prevent sticking of said buns to said trays the tray infeed conveyor C is provided with a pair of spaced jet nozzles 352, the free ends of which are located parallel with and close to the top surface of the passing trays. The rear ends of said nozzles 352 are connected to a transverse tube 354, to one end of which is secured a suitable valve 356 connected to a suitable air supply by means of a tube 358. A momentary blast of air released over the top of the trays just before the buns are lifted by the suction cups assists extraction of the buns from the trays. The transverse tube 354 is supported by a pair of brackets 360 secured to the sides of the conveyor supporting bars 32.

Two Spaced oscillating carton pusher plates 294 are adjustably secured to the cross bar 362 of an inverted U-shaped arm 364 the two downwardly projecting legs of which at their bottom portion are secured to a transverse shaft 366 which is rotatably supported by bearings secured to the side frames of the machine. One of the legs of arm 364 is provided with a lug 368 on the free end of which is pivotally mounted a cam roller 37 0 which engages with a cam 372 designed to impart oscillating motion to arm 364 and consequently to the carton pusher plates 294. The cam 372 is mounted on the transverse drive shaft 196 and cam roller 370 is kept in engagement with said cam 372 by means of anchored tension spring 374 attached to one leg of the arm 364. To prevent cocking of the relatively thin walled carton 'K the front edges 376 of the two pusher plates 294 are cut at a transverse angle so that each plate contacts the side of the carton at one point only and thus permits the use of cartons with slightly bulged out sides without trouble. To relieve the carton to be pushed from the conveyor B onto the cradle from the friction of the following carton on the conveyor belts 262, the outer edge 378 of the right side plate is also cut at an angle to act as a cam against the leading end of said following carton and to push it slightly backward when pushing a carton from the conveyor onto the cradle. After the buns have been deposited in the carton on the cradle and the pick-up head has cleared the delivery area, the cradle through the action imparted by cam 310 is tilted with its front downward to bring the filled carton into engagement with a pair of spaced endless conveyor chains 380 which partly straddle the cradle and carry the filled carton or package out of the machine. Conveyor chains 380 are driven by a pair of sprockets 382 and led over a pair of idler sprockets 384 rotatably supported on a transverse shaft 386. Shaft 386 at each end is provided with a flat portion which engages with and is supported in an elongated slot 388 provided in the top portion of each upright bearing plate 304, thus permitting movement of plates 304 for cradle adjustment without displacement of the shaft 386. Shaft 386 and consequently the conveyor chains 380 are kept under constant tension by means of a pair of tension springs 390, one of each of which is anchored to each of the conveyor support bars 32 while the other end of each spring 390 by means of a hook shaped bracket 392 is attached to the shaft 386'. The conveyor chain driving sprockets 382 are mounted on a transverse shaft 394 rotatably supported at each end by a suitable bearing provided in the side frames of the machine. On one end of shaft 394 is secured another sprocket 396 which is connected with and constantly driven by the chain 56 through the sprocket 38 on the gear reduction output shaft 60.

The machine is provided with a pneumatic positive air control system such as is schematically illustrated in FIG. 11 of the drawing. The air is supplied from a source S and is piped through a main tube 400 to a plurality of simple poppet control valves 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412 and 414 which are adjustably held by and secured in annular formation on a ring-shaped member 416 mounted on one of the side frames and concentrically surrounding the transverse drive shaft 196, on the end of which is keyed a cam 418. Cam 418 is provided with two cam surfaces or tracks 420 and 422 designed to engage with and depress the actuating arms of the various control valves as said cam rotates with the shaft 196. Also included in the air control system is a three-way valve 424, a four-way valve 426, a tray sensing valve 428 and a box of carton sensing valve 430. The activating arm of the carton sensing valve 430 is located beneath the carton index finger 284 so that when said finger drops down after indexing and no carton is present the finger drops to a lower lever than it would if a carton were there and thus depresses the activating arm of the carton sensing valve 430.

The tray sensing valve 428 is secured to a bracket 432 mounted on a vertical stud 434 mounted on the side frame of the machine. On the top end of said stud is a spring mounted sensing arm 436, the free end of which carries a roller 438 which is so situated that it engages with the side edge of each passing tray and thus holds the sensing arm 436 back and in contact with the actuating arm of the valve 428. When there is no tray the spring mounted sensing arm 436 is urged forward into the path of the trays and consequently incapacitates the valve 428. As seen in the schematic diagram in FIG. 11 the tray sensing valve 428 and the carton sensing valve 430 are connected to each other through the threeway valve 424 which in turn is also connected to pan indexing valve 406 and the carton indexing valve 408. These interconnected control valves prevent cartons from feeding when trays are absent in the bun pick up zone and also prevent the feeding of trays when a carton is absent in the receiving zone. The Valves 404 and 412 through the four-way valve 426 control the compression and expansion, respectively, in air cylinders 218 which effect the longitudinal and lateral movements of the suction cup carrying blocks on the pick-up head H. The four-way valve 426 is employed to feed the air to said cylinders. 218 and control the holding of said air within the same. Control valves 410 and 414 are employed to control the movement of the reciprocating piston in air cylinder 182 which in turn actuates the slide valve which controls the vacuum supply for the pick-up head H. The control valve 402 is provided to control the diaphragm valve 356 which permits air to be blasted from the jet nozzles 352 at and for the proper time. A conveniently located switch 440 on top of the machine is provided to incapacitate the entire air control system if desired.

In order to regulate the vacuum to meet the variations in bun conditions the vacuum outlet of the suction turbine 166 is provided with a control valve 167 which, through a rod 169 having a handle 171, may be set to any desired degree.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for placing a group of articles in a package, which comprises: first conveyor means for advancing a tray containing group of ariticles to a first station, a second conveyor mounted below and in spaced relationship with said first conveyor, said second conveyor being driven in the direction reverse to that of the first conveyor, an article transfer head mounted adjacent said first station, means mounted on said articles transfer head for engaging and holding articles at said first station, means for advancing a container to a container cradle mounted at a second station, means connected to said article transfer head operable to transport it from said first station to said second station, means operable to transfer empty trays from said first conveyor to said second conveyor means operable to deactivate said article engaging and holding means at said second station to cause the articles held therein to be inserted in said container.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cradle is pivotally mounted at said second station and means are provided for tilting said cradle to present a container supported thereon at a convenient angle to the article transfer head prior to the insertion of articles into the container.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means mounted on said article transfer head for changing the relative spacing between articles held thereby during the course of the transport thereof between said first and second stations.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, whereon said means for engaging and holding articles are cups to which subatmospheric pressure are applied.

5. The method of placing a group of articles in a package, which comprises steps of advancing a group of articles to a first location, advancing a container to a cradle located at a second location, simultaneously picking up each of said group of articles at the first station and transporting them away therefrom, effecting relative movement between the articles in said group to change the spacing therebetween during the transportation thereof, tilting said cradle so as to present said container at a convenient angle for receiving said articles, and inserting the articles in said container.

6. A method of producing a package containing a multiplicity of bakery products, which comprises conveying a multiplicity of bakery products in a pan wherein they 1 3; are in a relativeiy widely spaced relationship to a trans fer station, simultaneously engaging each one of'said bakery products at said transfer station with a single one of a plurality of suction cups mounted upon a transport member, eifecting relative movement between said transport member and said pan while said cups remain engaged with said bakery products so as to remove said products from said pan, conveying said transport member to a packing station while saidcups remain engaged with said bakery products, locating "a container at said packing station, effecting relative movement between said suctioncups during the conveyance of the transport member between said transfer station and said packing station so as to bring at least some *of said bakery products into contacting relationship with each other, tilting said container at said packing station so as to present said container at a convenient angle for receiving said articles simultaneously inserting all of said multiplicity of bakery products while engaged with said suction cups and while in contacting relationship with adjacent ones of said bakery products into said container, releasing said bakery products from said suction cups, and tilting said container to deposit it on a conveyor for subsequent movement away from said pack-aging'station.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,546,838 Tasche 53 247 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTE-R, IR., Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR PLACING A GROUP OF ARTICLES IN A PACKAGE, WHICH COMPRISES: FIRST CONVEYOR MEANS FOR ADVANCING A TRAY CONTAINING GROUP OF ARTICLES TO A FIRST STATION, A SECOND CONVEYOR MOUNTED BELOW AND IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID FIRST CONVEYOR, SAID SECOND CONVEYOR BEING DRIVEN IN THE DIRECTION REVERSE TO THAT OF THE FIRST CONVEYOR, AN ARTICLE TRANSFER HEAD MOUNTED ADJACENT SAID FIRST STATION, MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID ARTICLES TRANSFER HEAD FOR ENGAGING AND HOLDING ARTICLES AT SAID FIRST STATION, MEANS FOR ADVANCING A CONTAINER TO A CONTAINER CRADLE 